Issaquah City Council members do not debate opinions in the press, but I must correct a statement attributed to my fellow Councilman Joshua Schaer. It is factually incorrect, and may misinform skate park advocates.

In a 5-2 vote, council members approved a 50 percent hike in the city’s business and occupation taxes. The increase was a major part of the overall $168.6 million 2015 budget adopted by the council at its regular meeting Nov. 17.

Initially, Mayor Fred Butler proposed a 150 percent increase in the B&O taxes over a two-year period. At a public hearing Nov. 3, representatives from the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce and some of Issaquah’s biggest businesses, such as Darigold and Costco, said that was just too much.

After three public input meetings, the city-hired designer gave city officials its vision of what Issaquah’s skaters said they wanted in a new park. Grindline lead designer Micah Shapiro said their plan brought flow and a variety of elements to the 8,000-square-foot, triangular-shaped plot in Tibbetts Valley Park, across from the Issaquah Transit Center.

“We’ve kind of gotten it figured out what the public wants,” Shapiro said. “It’s really all about what they want in their skatepark.”

Grindline Skateparks Inc.Because of the high water table, the designer of the skate park could not include any deep bowl structures. This design could still change, depending on the budget for the park.

Now that the new skate park has a location, the city wants the public’s help on the design. In the last public design input meeting July 9, Grindline Skateparks Inc. will present a possible final design mockup for public review.

The Issaquah City Council unanimously approved Tibbetts Valley Park as the site for the new skate park in May. The next phase of the process will include some final community discussions about what the park should feature before the design moves on for City Council approval.

Grindline Skateparks Inc. will lead the city through the design process, but wants public input about the types of amenities, ramps and challenges desired by local skaters.

Now that the new skate park has a location, the city is gathering public input on its design.

The Issaquah City Council approved a parcel at Tibbetts Valley Park for the construction of the skate park May 19. The budgeted $350,000 will go to remove the current one, which caused ongoing community concern due to the presence of drug use and illicit activities, and build a new one sometime in 2015.

The Parks & Recreation Department held the first of three community public input meetings June 18 to collect ideas from local residents about what they would like to see in the new attraction.